The council has said that it will continue to use a controversial weed killer that has been deemed by a court in America to "cause cancer".

North East Lincolnshire Council currently uses Monsanto's Roundup Weed Killer in its grounds maintenance work, which an American court has recently ruled "causes cancer," due to its main ingredient glyphosate.

Monsanto, which is owned by Bayer Pharmaceuticals, was ordered to pay $289 million in damages to Californian school groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson, after a jury decided that the weed killer - which he frequently used in his job - had caused him to develop lymphatic cancer.

Roundup Weed Killer has been ruled by an American Court to cause cancer

The announcement of the verdict caused Bayer's stock to fall sharply on Monday and the company has announced that it will be appealing the decision, saying that the verdict was based on "junk science" and an "inflamed" jury.

However legal experts have said that the company faces an "uphill climb" to overturn the verdict.

North East Lincolnshire Council has indicated that it will await the outcome of the appeal before making any decision to stop using it.

Monsanto has maintained that Roundup has been proven safe based on "40 years of safe glyposate use and studies", but in 2015 the World Health Organisation ruled that glyphosates are "probably carcinogenic to humans".

Other studies have also shown that Roundup and glyphosate based products can be harmful to animals, causing vomiting and poisoning like symptoms, although it is not considered to pose a life-threatening risk.

Roundup Weed Killer is used by many local authorities across the country, including North East Lincolnshire Council

Wilko and Homebase have all announced that they will be reviewing their glyphosate based products in the wake of the court ruling, meaning that they could be pulling Roundup Weed Killer from their shelves.

B&Q are also currently reviewing their garden services range, including Roundup, as part of a full service review that was started in 2017, prior to the court ruling.

The European Parliament has also called for the product to be banned by 2022, and 1.3 million European citizens signed a petition calling for it to be taken off shelves in 2016.

Throughout the country Roundup Weed Killer is used by many Local Authorities, including North East Lincolnshire Council, however others have banned their use entirely, seeking alternative options for weed killer.

North East Lincolnshire Council said that it would "consider any unchallenged verdict in due course" -

A council spokesperson said: “Along with many other authorities, we use Roundup as well as a number of other products.

"These products are currently authorised for use in the UK and EU and are widely used in farming etc. Following the Monsanto case, we will consider any unchallenged verdict in due course.”